Garden Of Roses
by Jet Set Radio Yoyo
Summary: England wanted to see Guertena's artwork, but he ended up trapped in a strange world where the art is alive. However, he is not alone in this world for two other people are also trapped here. As England works together with a girl named Ib and a man named Garry he starts to form a connection with them, but his connection with Garry might be more than just friendship. Arthur X Garry
1. Chapter 1

**Garden Of Roses**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or Ib.**

**Couples: England X Garry**

* * *

'I can't wait to get home'

That's all England could think of as he watched all of the other nations pack up their things. Today's meeting had just ended so that meant that this month's World Meeting was finally over. England sighed a little as he started to pack up his papers into his briefcase. Like almost every other world meeting nothing was accomplished today. The meeting had started with America's suggestion that they make a bunch of superheroes to protect the world and it just went downhill from there.

America was going on about superheroes, Russia started mumbling something about everyone becoming one with him, and Italy kept babbling about some art gallery that he wanted to go to. Although now that he was thinking of Italy he couldn't help but look over at the Italian nation. Said nation was clinging onto Germany's arm and looking at him with a hopeful expression.

"Come on Germany; let's go to Guertena's art gallery!" Italy begged. "I really want to see his art with you."

England couldn't hear what Germany mumbled, but the man must have given in to Italy's begging because the brunette nation was smiling now. England turned his attention back to his suitcase, and ignored Italy and instead started to think of Guertena. The name sounded familiar, and after searching his memories for a few seconds it finally hit him as to where he had heard the name. The art gallery that was just across from the meeting building had opened up just recently and they were showing off the art of some artist that was named Guertena. He remembered seeing some advertisements for the gallery in a gardening magazine once.

"Guertena, huh?" England said absent mindedly as he closed his suitcase.

"Yeah, I hear his art is supposed to be really good." A voice said from beside England.

England jumped a little and quickly turned only to see Australia, Wy, and Sealand standing there.

England glared at Australia and said "Next time tell me that you're standing there."

"Sorry, I'll remember that next time." Australia said as he smiled.

England just rolled his eyes, and at this moment Wy decided to ask England a question.

"Are you interested in Guertena's art?" Wy asked.

"I can't say I know much about him." England said honestly.

Wy just sighed before she said "That's such a shame Guertena's art is wonderful, he seemed to put all his heart and soul into his work."

"Are you going to the gallery?" England asked.

Wy just nodded her head and said "Yeah, Australia is taking me."

It's at this moment that Sealand decided to jump into the conversation and said "I'm going too, Wy invited me along!"

"I see…" England said. "I suppose that explains why you are here then."

Sealand stuck his tongue out at England, but he ignored it.

"Want to come along?" Australia asked.

Sealand let out a loud groan before he asked "Why do you have to invite Jerk England along?"

England glared at Sealand, but Australia just laughed.

"Oh, come on the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned."

England thought about it for a few seconds before he shrugged. He had nothing better to do, and he had to admit he had heard just enough about Guertena's artwork that he actually wanted to see it now.

"I think I will go with you." England said.

"Great, let's go now." Australia said.

England nodded his head and grabbed his suitcase before he followed Australia and the two micronations out of the building. They briefly stopped at both England's car and Australia's car so that both of the nations could drop off their suitcases, but once that was done they went straight to the art gallery. Once inside Wy and Sealand quickly made their way over to the reception desk. Wy started to pick up some of the various pamphlets that where on the desk for people to pick up. As she grabbed the pamphlets she started to spout out random facts about Guertena to Sealand. She was so detailed that England was seriously wondering why she was even bothering grabbing any pamphlets on Guertena, she probably knew all of the facts that where in it.

"She sounds like a tour guide for the art museum doesn't she?" Australia said as he grabbed a few pamphlets and handed them over to England.

England took them and placed the pamphlets in his pocket.

"I'm going to go on ahead." England said.

"You'll watch the children right?"

Australia just waved his hand and said "Yeah, go on ahead I'll make sure that they don't get into any trouble."

England smiled at him before he walked into the gallery. He decided to explore the ground floor first and then he would work his way up. England explored the first floor and looked at all of the artwork. While all of the art looked very nice, only two pieces really stuck out to him. One piece of artwork was the Abyss of the Deep which England remembered was the piece of work that was being used to advertise the exhibit. The painting was huge and they actually had it set down on the floor. The large fish that was in the painting was a little creepy, and the painting was so detailed that it looked more like he was looking at a photograph then an actual painting.

The other piece of artwork that caught England's attention was a sculpture that went by the name of Embodiment of Spirit. The sculpture was that of a large red rose in full bloom with a few red petals spread out around it. It was a beautiful piece, but it was also one of the most delicate looking pieces of work that England had seen so far. It looked like the slightest touch would cause the stem of the rose to snap. Their where a couple of other interesting works of art on the first floor, but none of them stuck out quite as much as 'Abyss of the Deep' or 'Embodiment of Spirit'.

England made his way up stairs only to see that most of the nations where already up there. Wy was standing next to a group of headless statues wearing different colored dresses. She had a small group of people standing around her listening to her talk about the statues and their history. Sealand was listening to her and didn't notice him, but Australia noticed him and waved. England just waved back and continued to explore the second floor. He happened to come across Italy and Germany as well, and it seemed that the Italian nation was rather taken by a painting of a beautiful young woman wearing red.

"Look Germany, isn't she pretty?" Italy asked.

"Yes, she's very pretty." Germany said, but he sounded kind of annoyed.

"They say Guertena didn't paint real people, but there could be a girl that looks just like her out their somewhere." Italy said as he smiled.

Germany just sighed before he asked "Can we please look at some of the other artworks. You have been gushing about this one for twenty minutes already."

"Germany, I'm just admiring the good artwork." Italy said. "Besides, you need to take your time to really admire the art."

Germany just rolled his eyes, and England figured that meant that the conversation was over. He looked away from the two nations only to notice a young girl that was staring at Italy and Germany. The girl had long brown hair, but what England really noticed was the fact that he had bright ruby red eyes. It was such an uncommon eye color that England had to do a double take just to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. The girl must have felt that England was staring at her because she looked away from the two other nations and stared at England instead. She stared at him for a few seconds before she turned around and walked away. England watched the girl walk away and disappear around a corner.

England just shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at the rest of the artwork. Nothing really caught England's interest for very long, so it didn't take him long to look at everything. Eventually England ended up in a long hallway that only had a single painting hanging there. There was no one in the hallway, and the only sound that he England could hear was his own breathing. England stopped in front of the picture and gazed upon it. This was the one of the largest paintings that England had seen so far, the only other large painting that he had seen was Abyss of the Deep.

England could make out a few things in the painting such as a red rose and the rough sketch of the woman in red painting that Italy liked so much. However, they were the only things that really resembled real things. England quickly noticed the small gold plaque that was underneath the large painting.

'_Fabricated World, that's an interesting name for this painting_' England thought to himself.

However, right after he thought that the lights started to flicker. They flickered on and off a couple of times before they finally just turned off for good.

"A power outage?" England murmured to himself.

England shook his head and started to retrace his steps.

"I suppose the art gallery visit is over then." England muttered.

It's not like it was a big deal since he had more or less seen everything that there was to see in the gallery, but he knew Wy would be disappointed about having to leave so soon. England walked out of the long hallway and made his way back to where the painting of the woman in red was, but he stopped walking when he got there. This area of the gallery had quite a few people around here, but now everyone was gone. He couldn't even hear anyone talking or walking about the gallery.

"Everyone couldn't have made it downstairs already." England said to himself.

He just shook his head and quickly made his way to the staircase. Even if everyone else had already evacuated the building he was sure that Australia, Sealand, and Wy would wait for him outside. England made it to the staircase, but just before he could start making his way down the staircase he noticed what looked like a shadowy figure quickly walk past the window that was near the stairs. England walked over to the window and looked at it. It had been a beautiful sunny day outside without any fog at all, but now the window was so fogged up that he couldn't even see what the weather was like.

_ 'I must be imagining things. I'm on the second floor so there's no chance that anyone could walk past the window.'_ England thought. He quickly turned right around and started to walk back over to the stairs.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

England jumped and quickly turned around only to see that a handprint had been left behind on the window. The blond haired nation quickly raced down the stairs and made his way to the front door. However, when England tied to open the door he quickly found out that the doors were locked.

"Why are the bloody doors locked!?" England shouted.

No one answered him of course, and a few more tries of trying to force the door open just showed that it was closed for good. England sighed, but he quickly fell silent when he heard what sounded like loud footsteps. Whoever was walking around the gallery seemed to be trying to be as loud as possible and it sounded like the walking person was in the same room as England, but there was nobody around. England also noticed that someone had written something next to the door in crayon. England started to read the message.

_You just got here England. Don't tell me that you want to leave already._

England just scowled before he shouted out "Yes, I want to leave so let me leave already!" Nothing answered his loud shout, and the loud sound of footsteps continued on.

"What in the world is going on here?" England muttered.

He wasn't dreaming, he knew he wasn't dreaming this all up. He also knew that this was not some elaborate prank being pulled on him by his mythical friends. Sure some of his prank loving companions have been pretty creative with their tricks, but they have never been like this before. They also knew to stop when England had grown angry enough, but whoever was doing this showed no indication of stopping. England checked the front desk to see if there was a key there, but the only thing that he could find where pamphlets.

"Maybe I can find some other way to get out of here…" England murmured.

England walked down the hallway that lead to the Abyss of the Deep painting. England stopped walking once he reached the room, and he quickly noticed that something had changed. One of the rope barriers that had been set up around the painting on the floor had been taken away, and located right next to the painting where two blue colored footprints. There was something written on the floor near to footprints. England walked over to the writing and started to read it.

_Dive in._

'_Dive into the painting?'_ England thought.

The green eyed nation reached out and touched the painting only to have his hand go right through it. The painting was like a large pound it felt like water and the surface rippled as he moved his hand around. The water was lukewarm, and when England took his hand out of the water he was amazed to see that it was perfectly dry.

"How bizarre..." England whispered.

England gazed into the water and frowned. He wasn't found of the idea of diving into the painting. He had no idea on where it would take him, and he didn't know if he would be able to come back if he did dive in. Actually scratch that he wouldn't be able to come back considering the fact that he couldn't swim all that well.

"Maybe I should look around a bit more first…" England said to himself.

However, right after he said that the constant sound of someone walking fell silent and before England could even turnaround he felt someone shove him. England fell right into the Abyss of the Deep painting, and he started sinking like a stone. England struggled to try and get back to the surface, but it was no use. England continued sink and he could feel all of his energy just drain away. England was starting to feel lightheaded as well, and he started to lose conciseness within a matter of seconds. However, before he completely lost conciseness he heard what sounded like a girl whisper something to him.

_Welcome to Guertena's Gallery, England…_

* * *

**Info Time**

**England's not the best swimmer: I'm not actually sure if England can swim or not. In Himaruya's blog there was a strip that he did about horror movies or something to that effect where England was shown drowning because in the movies (that he watches anyway) the English can't swim. Also, historically, many pirates could not swim. However, those are characters in movies and not really about England himself. No one really seems to have a set in stone answer to the question of if England can swim or not.**

**Since there is no real answer I decided that for this fanfic England will be able to swim, but he's not the strongest swimmer out there.**

**Garry X England couple: I always wanted to write an Ib Hetalia crossover fanfic so I finally decided to do it. I thought England and Garry would make a cute couple, so that's why I decided to make them a couple in this fanfic. **

**Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible so please review and don't flame. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Garden Of Roses**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or Ib.**

* * *

When England woke up he quickly noticed that he was no longer sinking in the water of the Abyss of the Deep painting. Instead he was in a small simple room. The room was practically empty with the only piece of future in there was a small wooden table with a single vase sitting on it. Posted on the wall next to the table was a poster, but England couldn't make out the words from where he was sitting. Across from the table was a single grey door. England got up from the floor and rushed over to the door, but he quickly found out that the door was locked.

"Of course the bloody door is locked." England muttered.

He turned away from the door and walked over to the poster. With a small sigh England started to read the poster.

_When the rose rots, so too will you rot away._

_You and the rose are unified._

_Know the weight of your own life. _

"Rose?" England said out loud in confusion.

He glanced over at the vase and sure enough there was a rose sitting there waiting for him. However, England could tell right away that the rose was not normal. It was a beautiful purple rose that had a total of fifteen petals. There wasn't a petal out of place and it was so beautiful that England almost thought it was not a real rose. However, when England touched the petals of the rose he knew instantly that the rose was indeed real.

England grabbed the rose and took it out of the vase only to discover that the rose had no thorns. The second the rose was out of the vase England heard what sounded like the clicking of a lock. England gently put his rose into his pocket and looked over at the door. If the sign was to be believed this rose was his lifeline and if it ran out of petals he would die. He wasn't sure if that was really true or not, but he wasn't willing to pull any petals off to see if it was true or not.

England walked over to the door and turned the knob only to find out that sure enough the door was indeed unlocked. England quickly left the room only to end up in a much larger room. Across from his door was a painting of a cartoonish face that was wiggling its tongue and located near the painting was another table with a vase. Also, hanging near the painting was a frame with a white piece of paper inside, but England quickly noticed what looked like and extremely small red number nine printed on it.

England took one step toward the painting and the painting responded to this by spiting at England. Luckily the glob of spit landed on the floor and not on England, but it served its purpose in annoying the blond nation.

"That's very rude you know!" England yelled.

The painting didn't respond it just continued to wiggle its tongue without a care in the world. England glared at the painting, but he stopped glaring when he heard what sounded like a door being opened. England looked over toward the source of the noise only to see a little girl with long brown hair and bright red eyes come walking into the room. The girl looked around the room with a blank expression on her face, but her eyes widened a little when they finally landed on England. England recognized the girl immediately and he wasted no time in getting over to her. Once he had reached the girl he knelt down so that he was at eye level with her.

"I remember you I saw you in the gallery, or the real gallery anyway." England said.

"I remember you too." The girl replied.

"How did you get here?" England asked.

"I got here though the fish painting on the floor." She answered.

"You mean the Abyss of the Deep painting?" England asked.

The girl just nodded her head and England sighed.

"I ended up getting here though that painting too." England answered.

England then remembered his rose and he started to wonder if she had one too. He pulled his rose out of his pocket and showed it to the red eyed girl.

"When I got here I got this rose. Did you get a rose too?" He asked.

The girl just nodded and she proceeded to pull a red rose out of her skirt pocket. Her red rose had a total of five petals which was a lot less then what he had.

"How many petals did your rose start out with?" England asked.

"Five." The girl answered.

England couldn't help but wonder why she had less petals then him, but he quickly decided to think about that later.

"Since we seem to be in the same boat how about we stick together and try to find a way back home." England said. "I'm sure that we'll be able to escape this place by working together."

The girl smiled a little and nodded her before she said "I'd like that."

"Alright, why don't I go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Arthur what's your name?" England asked.

England just gave the girl his human name there was no reason for her to know that he was actually a nation. The girl smiled a little at England and said "My name is Ib."

"That is a beautiful name." England said.

England also had to admit that he had never heard of someone having a name like that, but for some reason he thought it suited her.

Ib's smile grew just a little bit larger and England couldn't help but smile as well.

"Let's explore the area. Hopefully we'll find a door that will lead us out of here." The green eyed nation said.

Ib just nodded her head and followed the blond nation as he looked around the area. England found a painted message on the wall that only said to beware lips. Located near the warning was a painting of lips. England decided to follow the warning and stay away from the lips, but he was just close enough that he could hear the lips talk.

"I'm so hungry. Won't someone feed me?" The lips moaned.

"This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" England muttered.

Ib just stared at the lips in slight confusion, but she quickly lost interest in the thing and started to look around the room. England was still staring at the lips when he felt Ib tug on his suit jacket.

"What is it?" England asked.

Ib didn't say anything she just pointed over to a piece of paper that saw sitting in front of a hall. England walked over to the slip of paper and read it out loud.

_Just when you've forgotten…_

"What does that mean?" England asked.

Ib looked confused, but within a matter of seconds her eyes widened with realization.

"Walk in the middle of the hallway don't walk near the walls." Ib said.

England didn't know why he couldn't go near the walls, but he decided to follow Ib's advice. He walked down the hall and Ib followed right behind him. Right when England had made it about midway through the hall a shadowy arm reached out of the wall and tried to grab him. He jumped in surprise, but he calmed down once he realized that the shadow arm could not reach him. England glanced over at Ib only to see that she was just staring at the arm.

"I saw a few of these before I got here." Ib explained.

"So I guess the note was addressed to you then?" England asked.

Ib just shrugged at the question and England just shook his head.

"Well, thank you for warning me." He said.

Ib only smiled at him, and with that done the two continued through the hallway only to end up in yet another hall. On the left side of the hall was a yellow door with a yellow paint message written next to it. On the right side of the hall was yet another yellow door and hanging from the ceiling from red thread where a bunch of dolls.

"Do you want to go left or right?" England asked.

Ib pointed to the right side of the hall and England just nodded.

"Alright, right side it is." The door on the right side of the hall was locked of course, but England quickly noticed the plaque that was on it.

"A green x times a red x times a purple x equals something…." England muttered.

After the equal sign there was a blank space were England could put in a three digit number.

"I found a red number nine on a portrait in this room. I guess that the red number is what the red x should be." England said. "Are we supposed to find the numbers that the x represents?"

Ib just shrugged as if to say that she didn't know. They both suddenly heard a soft thud come from nearby, but when they turned toward the noise only to see that a doll had fallen from the ceiling. They both walked over to the doll and looked at it only to see a large 18 sewn onto its yellow shirt.

"I guess we are supposed to find the numbers then." England said.

England looked up from the doll and over to the door on the left side of the hall.

'Only one place left to look.' England thought.

He walked over to the door and looked at the paint message that was written next to it.

_The Liars' room_

England opened the door and entered the room. The room was rather small with the only things in their being a single door and a bunch of paintings with painted words under them. Ib started to look at all of the paintings and England proceeded to pen the new door. In the other room there only a statue located in the middle of the room, and on the ground around the statues where a bunch of tiles. The statue was holding a large sign.

"There's an odd one out…?" England read out loud in confusion.

"I think it's talking about the paintings." Ib replied.

England closed the door and started to look at the paintings. There were a total of six paintings and each painting was that of a shadow person. Each person in the paintings were wearing different colored clothes, and that was the only way that England could tell them apart. England looked at the painted words that was underneath the picture of a woman in white.

"Stand in front of the statue. Go east 2 steps, then south 2 steps. That's the answer." England read out loud.

"She's lying." Ib said.

"What makes you say that?" England asked.

"The painting in yellow said that she was speaking the truth." The girl said.

England was confused at first, but after thinking about it for a few seconds he figured the puzzle out.

"That's right we are in the liars' room which means that most of these paintings are liars. The odd one out must be our truth teller." England said. "Any painting that says that some other painting is telling the truth is lying."

"The painting in red is a liar, they agree with the one in yellow." Ib said.

England looked at the painting of a man wearing blue and shook his head.

"The man in blue is a liar. He says the man in green is telling the truth. That means the man in green is lying as well." England said.

England walked over to the painting of a woman wearing brown. She was the only painting left. England just smiled as he said "I think I found our truth teller."

Ib walked over to him and looked at the painted words that where underneath the woman in brown.

_Stand in front of the statue. Go east 4 steps, then north 2 steps. That's the answer! _

"Well, let's try it out and see if she really was telling the truth." England said.

England and Ib made their way into the statue room. Ib had closed the door behind them and England had taken his spot in front of the statue. England then followed the woman in brown's advice and followed her directions. Once he was at his final destination he flipped over the tile that he had stopped at. England smiled a little when he saw that the tile had small purple number four printed on it.

"She was telling the truth." England said.

However, right after England said that he and Ib heard what sounded like glass being shattered. The sound was then followed by a lot of loud banging. Ib and England stood frozen in place as they listened to the loud noises coming from the liars' room. When everything had fallen silent England finally stood up from his spot on the floor.

"Ib stay close to me." England ordered.

Ib just nodded her head and quickly made her way over to England. Once Ib was by his side he lead to little girl into the Liar's room. Once they were in the liars' room they made a rather horrifying discovery.

The woman in brown's painting had been destroyed. The glass was shattered and their where large rips all over her painting. Red paint was dripping from the rips in the painting, and if England didn't know any better he could have almost mistaken the red paint for blood. All of the other paintings were holding weapons now, and each weapon was dripping with red paint. Also, underneath each painting the painted words had changed and they only said one thing.

_Liar! _

Ib cling onto England's suit jacket and England just frowned.

"Come on Ib, let's get out of here." The green eyed nation said.

They quickly left the room and made their way back to the door with the number puzzle on it. England quickly filled in the blanks with the numbers.

'9 times 18 times 4 should equal 166.' England thought.

England entered the answer into the door, and right after he answered the question he heard a loud click which meant that the door was unlocked. England opened the door and walked in. The room had a few fake trees in it, and it had a painting of an apple hanging from a branch. One of the trees had an apple hanging from it. England plucked the apple off of the tree only to discover that the apple was made of wood. England also noticed that the wooden apple actually smelled like apples, and the smell was so strong that it was almost overwhelming.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" England asked.

"Do we give it to the lips? He was saying that he was hungry." Ib said.

England just shrugged before he said "It's worth a shot."

They made their way over to the lips and once they where their England held the apple out to the lips.

"Are you giving this to me?" The lips asked.

England just nodded and the lips smiled before they opened up. England placed the apple into the mouth, and the mouth immediately started to eat it. Once it was done the lips let out a loud burp. England just frowned and crossed his arms.

"These lips eat things just like Alfred does." England said.

Ib looked at England in confusion, and England just smiled at her.

"Alfred is the name of someone that I know." He explained.

Ib just nodded before she turned her attention back to the lips. England also looked at the lips and quickly noticed that it was smiling.

"Thank you for the food. I'll let you though now." The lips said.

The lips then opened up wide only to reveal a door. England decided to not question the fact that the lips was hiding a door and instead he just looked down at Ib.

"Ready to move on?" England asked.

Ib just nodded and smiled before she grabbed his hand. England smiled back at her before he opened the door and lead his companion deeper into the gallery…

* * *

**Info Time**

**Purple Rose: Purple roses symbolize** **love at first sight, delight, attraction, charm and enchantment. They also suggest royalty, majesty, dignity and splendor. The purple rose also conjures feelings of wonder, impracticality, magic, mystic, spiritual, and magnetic wonders.**

**Since the purple rose can be used to symbolize magic (or something that is magical) I thought it fit in with England since he uses magic. Also, since England can see mythical things this fits in with the mystic wonders meaning. A few of the other meanings that the purple rose has will come into play later on in the story.**

**Anyway, out of all of the rose colors I thought purple fit England rather well so that's why I decided to give him a purple rose. **

**I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible so please review and don't flame. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Garden Of Roses**

**Ch. 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or Ib**

* * *

When Ib and England went through the door that the lips had been hiding they ended up in a long hallway. The hallway was lined with paintings of a guillotine, and in each picture the blade of the guillotine would be raised up higher and higher. England just ignored the pictures and started to walk down the hall. Ib grabbed England's hand and she walked beside him. At the end of the hall there was a staircase.

Right when England and Ib took the first step down they heard a loud bang behind them, and the ground even shook a little. They quickly turned around only to see the blade of a guillotine had slammed down into the floor right behind them. The force of the landing was so strong that it actually cracked the floor. They watched as the blade raised back up into the ceiling and disappeared from view.

"If that had been any closer it would have…." England started to say, but he stopped talking before he said kill us.

Ib seemed to know what he was going to say because she just tightened her grip on his hand. They quickly made their way down the stairs and though the door that was there. This room was full of different artworks, but Ib and England didn't care about them. They just rushed over to the only door that was in the room. England frowned when he found that the door was locked.

"Of course the door is locked." England muttered.

He sighed a little before he turned to look at his companion.

"Well, there has to be a key somewhere in this room. You search the left side of the room, and I'll search the right side of the room." England said.

Ib nodded and she walked over to the left side of the room and started to look around. England started to search his side of the room, but he was also studying the artworks that he passed by. England stopped in front of an overly large blue statue of what looked like a woman holding a vase. The sculpture was titled 'Ah', and that just made England roll his eyes.

'Not the most creative title in the world.' He thought.

England looked away from the sculpture only to notice a painting hanging nearby. England walked over to the painting and looked at it. The painting was of a beautiful woman with brown hair and bright red eyes. She had on a lovely red dress and a gentle smile graced her face. Underneath the painting was a plaque that stated that the painting was called 'The Lady in Red'.

'This was the painting that Italy was obsessing over back at the real gallery.' England thought.

England was about to walk away, but before he could even turn away he watched as the lady's smile turned into a creepy smirk. The woman reached out toward England and lashed out at him. The woman actually scratched him and England just stumbled back in shock. The woman pulled herself off of the wall, and England noticed that when she fell to the ground a bright red key fell to the ground as well. The woman started to drag herself towards England and the English nation wasted no time in running away from her.

"Ib!" England shouted.

Ib turned away from the painting that she had been looking at and looked over at England. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that he was running away from the Lady in Red.

"She dropped a key when she started chasing me. Go get the key while I keep her distracted!" England shouted as he ran from the crazy painting.

Ib immediately ran off to get the key and England started to run around the red sculpture that looked a lot like the 'Ah' sculpture. Luckily for England the Lady in Red seemed far more interested in England then she was in Ib, and she ignored the child as she went off to get the key. After running around for about three minutes England finally heard the loud click of a door unlocking.

"Arthur the door is unlocked!" Ib shouted.

Ib raced into the next room, and England quickly followed after her. Once they were both inside the room England slammed the door shut behind him. England could hear the woman banging on the door, but it didn't seem like she could come in. England leaned back against the door and tried to catch his breath. As he tried to calm down he started to look around the room. The room was full of bookshelves and there was only one other door in the room. Ib ran over to the door and tried to pen it, but after a few tries she just looked over at England and shook her head.

England just sighed before he said "Try searching the bookcases. Maybe there is a key tucked away in a book somewhere."

Ib just nodded her head before she started to look at the books. England was about to start searching too, but before he could start Ib ran up to him with a book in her arms.

"Can you read this for me? I can't understand some of the words." She said.

England took the book from her, opened the book, and started reading.

"The girls in the canvas...the women here become very troublesome when they acquire a desire for humans. They'll always stubbornly chase things until they're satisfied, it seems...anywhere...everywhere...to the ends of the earth...but if they have a weakness, it is that they can't open doors on their own." England read outloud.

England smiled a little before he said "Well, at least that means that we are safe from our little friend."

However, after he said that he started to frown.

"Although this book makes it sound like there is more than one girl. That worries me a little." England said.

Ib just looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face and England just gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Let's keep looking." England said.

Ib nodded her head and went back to searching, and once Ib was no longer looking at him England started to frown again. He was worried about the possibility of bumping into more painting ladies, but he didn't want to worry Ib. He was also worried about the scratch that he had gotten from the Lady in Red. Usually, small scratches like this would heal with a matter of seconds thinks to his status as a nation. However, for whatever reason this scratch was not going away and that was worrying him a little. Well, there was not much that he could do about it now. England just sighed a little as he started to search the bookcases. He quickly noticed a piece of paper that was sticking out of one of the books, but when he pulled the piece of paper out he got a less then wonderful message.

_Having Fun?_

"Not really…" England muttered.

England placed the piece of paper down on top of the bookshelf and looked over at Ib. She was standing in front of the bookshelf staring at something. England walked over to her and looked at the bookcase.

"What are you looking at?" England asked.

Ib just pointed at one of the books, and England just read the title of the book.

"Carrie Careless and the Galette des Rois…." England read out loud.

He grabbed the book and looked at the author, and while it did say that the author was also the one who drew the pictures in the book it didn't bother to say who the author was. England opened the book only to be met with the image of a closed curtain. Suddenly, England could hear the sound of a drum roll come from out of the book and the title magically appeared on the curtain with the sound of people clapping soon followed it. The curtain opened up the reveal a stage, and the story started to play out in front of England and Ib's eyes almost like they were watching a short movie.

The drawings where done completely in crayon, and it looked like a child had drawn all of the pictures. The story started out ordinary enough with a bunch of friends celebrating a girl's birthday. They ate Galette des Rois cake, and the birthday girl ended up accidently swallowing the coin that had been hidden in the cake. However, it started to take a weird turn when the girl who made the cake realized that she had accidently put a key into the cake and not the coin. This wasn't so weird on its own, but it got really weird when the girl grabbed a knife and started saying that she was just as carless as Carrie.

"She's not going to do what I think she is going to do is she?" England asked.

England got his answer when the curtains closed and the loud sound of something being sliced apart with a knife came out of the book. The knife welding girl popped out from behind the curtain holding a key, and she was covered in blood.

"I found the key! Now open the door!" The girl called out in her squeaky voice.

The loud clicking sound of a door unlocking filled the room, and England quickly slammed the book shut and placed it back onto the shelf.

"This whole place is crazy." England stated.

Ib just gave England a concerned look, but he just shook his head.

"Come on the door is unlocked now so that means we can move on." England said.

In just nodded her head and the two of them went though the now unlocked door. The door lead them to a small hallway that had a door on both ends. In the middle of the hallway was a small table with a light blue vase on it. On the wall above the table was a painting of the vase, and a small name card was underneath it stated that the painting was called 'Eternal Blessing'.

"I wonder…." England said quietly.

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his rose. He was missing a petal which meant he was down to fourteen petals. England carefully placed his rose into the vase and watched in amazement as the rose was restored and the missing petal magically reappeared. Even more amazing was the fact that the scratch that the Lady in Red had left on England's hand just disappeared.

_ 'So we really are connected to roses_.' England thought.

England carefully took his rose out of the vase and put it into his pocket.

"Do you need to heal your rose?" England asked.

Ib just shook her head no, and England smiled.

"That's good. I guess these vases will heal our roses. Let's hope that there are a lot of these vases set up around this place." England said.

He then looked over to the door on the right and pointed at it.

"Shall we go through the door on the right?" He asked.

Ib just nodded her head in response, and England just smiled as he lead the girl to the door. Surprisingly enough the door was unlocked, but that was not the baggiest surprise that they would get. No, the baggiest surprise that they would find was the thing that was beyond the door. England opened the door only to see that on that it lead to a large hallway laying face down in the hallway was a young man. England quickly rushed over to the man's side, and once he was their he got down onto his knees and looked at the man. The young man was wearing a long tattered coat, and he had light purple colored hair with a few dark purple strands of hair at the top. Due to the fact that he was laying face down England couldn't get a look at his face.

"Hey, are you alright?" England asked.

The young man only groaned in response to the question. England only frowned a bit, but he jumped a little when he heard the man let out a loud pain filled groan. England looked up only to see Ib frozen in place with wide eyes. It looked like she had attempted to rub the man's back, but that only seemed to make things worse.

"I don't think that helped him out my dear." England said.

"My mummy says that backrubs help her when he back hurts." Ib said.

"Yes, but I think just touching him causes him pain." England said.

Ib frowned and England just smiled a little.

"However, that was very sweet of you to try and help him out." England quickly said.

Ib gave England a week smile, and England just smiled back at her before he looked down at the man.

'_Since touching him causes pain I guess I shouldn't try flipping him onto his back.'_ England thought.

England quickly noticed that he was holding something in his hand, and after carefully prying the thing out of the poor man's hand England discovered that the thing he was holding was a key. England took the key before he started to such the man's pockets. He was hoping that the man would have a rose on him, but the only thing the man had was a lighter and a piece of candy. England frowned and looked over at Ib.

"He doesn't have a rose. That might be why he is suffering right now." He said.

England stood up and looked over at the door that they had came though.

"We should start looking for his rose. The sooner we find it the sooner we will be able to help him." England said. "Let's go check the door on the left in the other hallway."

Ib followed after England as he backtracked to the other hallway. They went through the door on the left and ended up in a small room. England quickly noticed a small table with a gray vase sitting on it. On the left and right side of the vase where two white posters, and when England read the poster he was met with some very familiar words.

_When the rose rots, so too will you rot away._

_You and the rose are unified._

_Know the weight of your own life. _

"That man must have started here." England murmured to himself.

"Hey, Arthur come here!" Ib called out.

England walked away from the posters and over to Ib. Ib was standing in front of a small plaque that was on the wall. England also noticed that spread about on the floor where a few blue rose petals. He also noticed a bit of blood that had been spilled onto the floor. England frowned at the sight of the blood, but he just focused his attention on Ib.

"What is it Ib?" England asked.

Ib didn't say a word she just pointed at the plaque on the wall. England looked at the plaque and started to read it.

_Lady in Blue_

"That man must have been attacked by the Lady in Blue." Arthur said.

Ib said nothing to this she just looked up at England with a blank look on her face.

"We should try to find his rose as soon as we can." England said.

Ib just nodded her head before she walked over to a door that had a window beside it. England walked over to her side and tried to look though the window, but the window was so fogged up that he couldn't see a thing. He looked over at Ib only to see that she was trying to open the door.

"It's locked…" Ib said as she finally gave up on trying to open the door.

"Hopefully, the key that we got from the man unlocks it." England said as he pulled the key out of his pocket.

England tried using the key and sure enough it unlocked the door. England opened the door walked into the room, but they quickly stopped walking when they noticed that there was someone already in the room. Sitting in the corner of the room was the Lady in blue. She looked just like the Lady in Red, but she had blue eyes and blue dress on. The Lady was holding a blue rose and she was ripping the petals off one by one. England could hear her whispering something every time she ripped a petal off, but she was whispering so quietly that he couldn't understand what she was saying. England took one step toward her, but the second he got close to her she looked up from the rose and over at England.

They stared at each other for awhile, but when England took a step back she quickly returned her attention back to the rose. England thought about what he could do to get the rose, but after thinking for a few seconds he finally came up with an idea. England slowly took off his suit jacket and looked over at the Lady.

"Hey!" England shouted.

The Lady in Blue looked up from the rose, and once she was looking at him England quickly flung his jacket into her face. The Lady in Blue let out a loud yell of surprise and she dropped the rose. She tried to pull the jacket off of her, but it had gotten snagged on her frame and she was having a hard time getting it off. England quickly ran over to the rose and picked it up before he went racing over to Ib. He grabbed Ib's hand and quickly pulled her out of the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

He pulled her over to the door that would lead them out of the room, but right when they got to the door they both heard the sound of glass shattering. They both turned to look towards the window only to see the Lady in Blue there. She had gotten the jacket off of her, and had broken the window just to try and get them. She started to drag herself toward them, but before she could even get halfway across the room England and Ib had already gotten into the room with the blue vase. England quickly slammed the door shut behind them.

"They can't open doors, but they can break windows rather easily." England said.

Ib just nodded her head before she looked over at the blue vase.

"Right, we should heal the rose and return it to that man." England said.

England walked over to the blue vase and placed the wilted blue rose into the vase. The rose instantly sprang back to life and its lost petals where replaced. England took the rose out of the vase and smiled at Ib.

"Let's take this back to the man." England said.

Ib smiled and nodded her head. The red eyed girl followed England as he lead her back to the hallway where the man was laying. When they got their they saw that the man was still laying face down on the ground. England walked over to the man and knelt down.

England held out the blue rose and said "We got your rose back so wake up."

The man let out a small groan, but after a few seconds had passed by he finally lifted his head up. The man looked at England and England just smiled back at him. Now that England could actually get a look at his face he could see that the mysterious man was very handsome young man. His left eye was covered up by a part of his hair, but his right eye was uncovered and England could see that it was a beautiful sapphire blue color.

The man looked at the rose that England was holding out for him, and then he looked at England. The man smiled at England, and the English nation could see that he was blushing a little as well although why he was blushing was anyone's guess.

"Is he ok?" Ib asked.

The man looked over at Ib and his smile disappeared immediately. He quickly stood up and took a couple of steps back.

"What do you want?! I don't have anything left!" The man yelled out.

"Calm down it's just a little girl!" England yelled back.

Ib walked out from behind England and looked at the man with curiosity. Once the man got a good look at Ib he quickly calmed down.

"Sorry, she just looks a lot like the Lady in Red so I thought she was another one of those painting woman." The man said.

England looked over at Ib, and he had to agree with the man that Ib did look like a younger version of the Lady in Red.

"It's alright. I understand." England said.

England held the man's rose out toward him yet again and said "Here we got your rose back."

"Oh thank you so much! You saved my life by getting this back." The man said as he gently took his rose back from England.

When the man took his rose back their hands brushed up against each other briefly and England could see that the man was blushing again, but England didn't say anything about it. The man carefully put his rose into the pocket of his jacket before he looked at Ib and England.

"My name is Garry." Garry said.

England smiled at him and said "My name is Arthur."

"My name is Ib." Ib said quietly.

"Nice to meet you." Garry said.

Garry frowned a little before he asked "Do you know how we got here?"

England just sighed and shook his head.

"I'm not sure how we got here." England answered "I was looking at the Fabricated World painting when suddenly the lights started flickering and I ended up here."

"That's how I got here." Ib said.

Garry sighed before he said "So I guess neither one of you knows why nor how we got here."

"Maybe it was magic." England said.

Garry just chuckled and shook his head before he said "Maybe it was."

Garry wasn't being really serious when he said that, but England was being serious when he suggested that it was magic. Honestly, England hadn't thought much about how he got here since he was so busy trying to get out, but now that he actually sat there and thought of it he actually thought that it really could be magic that bought them here. Granted he had never heard of a spell that could do something like this, but that didn't mean that it did not exist. England was starting to get lost in thought, but he snapped out of it when he heard Garry calling his human name.

England looked at Garry only to see that the lavender haired man was looking at him with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you OK?" Garry asked.

England just shook his head and smiled before he said "I'm fine I was just lost in thought."

Garry nodded his head before he said "Alright, how about we stick together and try to find a way out of here?"

"That's sounds good, right Ib?" England said.

The little girl just nodded her head and smiled.

"Alright the, let's go on ahead." Garry said as he marched forward.

England quickly noticed that a little ways down the hall was one of those spitting paintings.

"Uh, Garry…" England called out.

However, before England could warn Garry the spiting painting did what it does best and it spit out a giant spit ball. Garry let out a rather girly scream and fell down. He quickly scrambled back up onto his feet before he looked over at England and Ib only to see that they were both staring at him.

Garry just blushed a little in embarrassment before he coughed and said "Let's just keep moving."

England just chuckled a little before he took the lead and lead his two companions deeper into the gallery. Something told England that Garry was going to be an interesting person to be around…

* * *

**Info Time**

**Garry's Age: While I know Ib is nine, they never say just how old Garry is. For this story I'll say that Garry is 21.**

**Garry's Eye Color: I'm not sure what Garry's eye color is since it's a little hard to tell in the game. Some people seem to think it's purple while other people seem to think it's blue. I went with blue because I think he would look good with blue eyes.**

**Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible so please review and don't flame.**


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